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Living on the Border of the Holy: Renewing the Priesthood of All
“I wish every self-identified ‘person of faith’ could read this remarkable, thought-provoking book.”―Bruce Bawer, author of Stealing Jesus There is a lot of tension in churches today about whose ministry is primary―that of the laity or of the clergy. Living on the Border of the Holy offers a way of understanding the priesthood of the whole people of God and the priesthood of the ordained by showing both are rooted in the fundamental priestly nature of life. After an exploration of the ministries of laity and ordained, Country examines the implications of this view of priesthood for churches and for those studying for ordination. “For anyone struggling with how to live in the thin places between heaven and earth, Dr. Countryman’s brilliant offer hope, companionship, and the fruits of years of experience. His theory of a ‘fundamental human priesthood’ gives us all a compassionate guide to follow as we enter the borderlands, and it should help end the division between clergy and laity. Countryman’s human priesthood leads us into the future, where God calls us to be.”―Nora Gallagher, author of Things Seen and A Year Lived in Faith
224 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1999
19 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
L. William Countryman
24 books8 followersBill Countryman is a retired seminary professor and Episcopal priest (still assisting at Good Shepherd Church in Berkeley, CA). He and his spouse, Jon Vieira, live in Oakland, CA, where he tends the garden and writes mostly poetry these days.
I'm a lover of poetry, classical music (with a particular fondness for choral and chamber music and for late-ninteenth-early-twentieth-century orchestral music. I spread my reading broadly: poetry, fiction, history, theology.
And I blog on gardening, reading the Scriptures, and whatever else interests me at billcountryman.com.
I'm a lover of poetry, classical music (with a particular fondness for choral and chamber music and for late-ninteenth-early-twentieth-century orchestral music. I spread my reading broadly: poetry, fiction, history, theology.
And I blog on gardening, reading the Scriptures, and whatever else interests me at billcountryman.com.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
February 12, 2017
This book gives the only explanation of ordained priesthood that I can live with - the ordained priesthood is an icon and sacrament of the priesthood of all. Our priesthood of laity is the true priesthood - the priesthood of Jesus, who after all was never ordained.
I adore this book, and wish it was required reading at every seminary.
I adore this book, and wish it was required reading at every seminary.
April 20, 2025
An exceptionally clear and elegantly written summary of our fundamental priesthood as human beings as it relates to the sacramental priesthood of the ordained.
July 4, 2015
I have to say that this is an excellent, excellent book, even though I am frustrated by it in some ways. This may be because I find it hard to warm to how Mr. or Rev. Countryman conveys his ideas in any of his books. He is definitely a sincere, lovely person. He is also wordy and repetitive. It is difficult to find guidelines in his writing. And somehow I feel that his writing is not really scholarship at all (though he is very learned), but that it consists of long disquisitions on personal ideas that have inspired him. That is, he seems a philosophical type of theologian or pastor. And, indeed, I felt that "Living on the Border of the Holy" is a riff on a metaphor of the borderland.
The metaphor of living in or visiting the border between our lives and God is an important one. The concept itself is not dreamy - that is, prayer, contemplation, and just plain thinking about things can bring us there The importance of the metaphor is its connotation that God is far bigger and different and stranger and even dangerous than we can conceive. Out of the metaphor, LWC creates a modern ecclesiology, not only for the Episcopal/Anglican church (the author's home church), but for any denomination.
How does he do this? LWC begins by challenging our concept of the institution of "church". If anyone can approach the border, everyone is equal within the church. If everyone is equal, then the functions of persons in the church must be rethought. For example, members should recognize their fundamental and primary priesthood and their gifts - even gifts, like preaching, that traditionally are within the ordained clergy's bailiwick. LWC's ideas about the ordained clergy are pretty radical in this day and age - and I must say they are very attractive. He raised my consciousness about the clergy simply by saying that they should cease to be professionals with career issues like a lawyer's. (I guess I'm slow here.) They should be relieved of over-extended leadership roles for which they may be poorly prepared. They are to be signs of the universal priesthood and conduct the liturgies which are signs of the entire church's approach to the borderlands. We should all recognize that God works outside the "church" (and this is an extremely important and liberating idea that this book emphasizes).
I really like all of these ideas, and they resonate with me deeply. They are immensely fertile ground for persons who think about the church in these days in which the church is changing drastically before our eyes because of low attendance, aging membership, cultural alienation, and so forth. But LWC doesn't really provide any guidelines beyond the questions that he stimulates in my mind. That is, he doesn't help out with suggestions for a program. I will say that his credibility to talk is based on a strong practical knowledge of how churches work, but I had thought that there would be some program that he might build up on his radical concepts.
I suppose that, in the end, church members are the instruments by which a program will evolve slowly and carefully. So I should read this book as laying the task on people like me. If so, then this book with all of the valuable questions and ideas it raises is worthy of the five stars I'm giving it.
The metaphor of living in or visiting the border between our lives and God is an important one. The concept itself is not dreamy - that is, prayer, contemplation, and just plain thinking about things can bring us there The importance of the metaphor is its connotation that God is far bigger and different and stranger and even dangerous than we can conceive. Out of the metaphor, LWC creates a modern ecclesiology, not only for the Episcopal/Anglican church (the author's home church), but for any denomination.
How does he do this? LWC begins by challenging our concept of the institution of "church". If anyone can approach the border, everyone is equal within the church. If everyone is equal, then the functions of persons in the church must be rethought. For example, members should recognize their fundamental and primary priesthood and their gifts - even gifts, like preaching, that traditionally are within the ordained clergy's bailiwick. LWC's ideas about the ordained clergy are pretty radical in this day and age - and I must say they are very attractive. He raised my consciousness about the clergy simply by saying that they should cease to be professionals with career issues like a lawyer's. (I guess I'm slow here.) They should be relieved of over-extended leadership roles for which they may be poorly prepared. They are to be signs of the universal priesthood and conduct the liturgies which are signs of the entire church's approach to the borderlands. We should all recognize that God works outside the "church" (and this is an extremely important and liberating idea that this book emphasizes).
I really like all of these ideas, and they resonate with me deeply. They are immensely fertile ground for persons who think about the church in these days in which the church is changing drastically before our eyes because of low attendance, aging membership, cultural alienation, and so forth. But LWC doesn't really provide any guidelines beyond the questions that he stimulates in my mind. That is, he doesn't help out with suggestions for a program. I will say that his credibility to talk is based on a strong practical knowledge of how churches work, but I had thought that there would be some program that he might build up on his radical concepts.
I suppose that, in the end, church members are the instruments by which a program will evolve slowly and carefully. So I should read this book as laying the task on people like me. If so, then this book with all of the valuable questions and ideas it raises is worthy of the five stars I'm giving it.
May 12, 2012
This is one of my BOOKS. BOOKS, all CAPS, as in: 1) Bible; 2) Chronicles of Narnia; 3) Open Mind - Open Heart; 4) Living on the Border of the Holy; 5) Holy the Firm; 6) Harry Potter; 7) Cheaper by the Dozen; 8) A Separate Peace; 9) Lesbian/Woman; and 10) Huckleberry Finn. BOOKS, as in the ones I read and experience paradigm shift, or paradigm deepening, or paradigm tossed overboard never to be seen again.
Living on the Border of the Holy helped me see priesthood at a depth I knew was there, but could never articulate. It taught me that I have something of the holy to show others, and that something of the holy is unique to me as are other specific bits of the holy are meant for others to show me. And others. No one escapes the responsibility and no one will want to, once s/he realizes what a gift is that responsibility. For those who are exploring the possibility of ordained ministry, this book can help you better define, "Why ordination?"
Living on the Border of the Holy helped me see priesthood at a depth I knew was there, but could never articulate. It taught me that I have something of the holy to show others, and that something of the holy is unique to me as are other specific bits of the holy are meant for others to show me. And others. No one escapes the responsibility and no one will want to, once s/he realizes what a gift is that responsibility. For those who are exploring the possibility of ordained ministry, this book can help you better define, "Why ordination?"
May 15, 2014
This was assigned for our EFM seminar group. There are many, many lines that made me say, "YES! That's IT!" and for that, I love this book. But it does get repetitive, and I'm sorry that the book is not more accessible...I would love to see congregations read it in small groups.
Wonderful explication of how we all have, not just a ministry in the world, but a priesthood in the world. Strongly recommend this for clergy and laypersons who have "reading stick-to-it-iveness."
Wonderful explication of how we all have, not just a ministry in the world, but a priesthood in the world. Strongly recommend this for clergy and laypersons who have "reading stick-to-it-iveness."
April 1, 2014
It's unclear what the theme of this book is - if it's that "everyone's a priest," then that's a good argument, but not book-length. The middle of the book is devoted to discussions of problems of professional ministry, and is more understandable, but I'm not clear how to implement the proposed solution.
April 6, 2014
We were assigned this book for two weeks of EfM this year. It has some very good things to say, but they could have been said in a short essay; the book belabored its points so that by the end I was really ready to put it down. The style was repetitive and aphoristic. It was fine for me to read it once; I will not be likely to pick it up again in a hurry.
March 14, 2019
I struggled with the prose style of this book that often left me rereading sentences and wishing someone had been a priest to him by revealing the hidden wonders of editing... but the content was worth these trials. I left Part I feeling iffy about his perspective on ordained priests, but Part II refined this view in a way that clarified what I as a priest's wife have often struggled with: understanding how I as an extremely independent person of faith can/should rate to his role as ordained clergy. By understanding the priesthood of all I feel more confident in my independence, recognizing how he has and does serve as an icon of that which I already possess. I am not obligated to practice my own priesthood in his way because he is ordained and my husband. "Renewing the priesthood of all" is not about instituting homogeneity, but about seeing and sharing the Holy in the ways only we are uniquely positioned to do.
November 19, 2020
This is an excellent book for all Christians - lay and ordained - to add to their list as they consider what it means to live a faithful life in what Countryman calls the "fundamental priesthood". A couple of considerations that Countryman addresses which I appreciate include the integration and coordination between the ordained and the lay as well as the importance of educating all persons within the Church - the fundamental priesthood. I highly recommend this work.
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May 13, 2025My priest gave me this to read; it provided a lot for me to think about in regards to the nature of the sacramental priesthood, its relation to that of all believers, how both of those effect me personally, etc.
August 5, 2020
Like Rowan Williams, Countryman is for me an author to read over and over, slowly. Dense with insight, clarity and compassion, he gives new eyes for the familiar.
May 17, 2014
This was another assignment for my seminary studies. Loved this book. L. William Countryman is a gay, Episcopal priest with a wonderful message about ministry. We all have a fundamental ministry. Others, in addition, pursue a sacramental ministry. Our mission is to question what our ministry is and how we are to fulfill it. Along the way, the author explores the ministry of Jesus, his teachings, the ministry of ordained clergy, and the laity.
There were several sections and commentary that stood out for me.
On ministry and priesthood:
All human beings, knowingly or not, minister as priests to one another...The priesthood belongs to everyone.
The gospel was not spoken (and cannot be spoken) in a timeless or abstract way. It is always spoken to specific people, who hear it with human ears and human minds.
Heaven is an epektasis—not an arriving at God—but a continual process of stretching and being stretched out toward God.
When we encounter the HOLY, we are encountering what is essential to us, even if it seems beyond us.
The word of GOD, in Christian religion, remains subversive.
Whenever someone is living attentively in the borderlands where we meet the HOLY and is ministering and being ministered to there, that person is a priest.
On Jesus' ministry:
According to the law of Moses, Jesus was not a priest at all in the sacramental sense. He belonged to the tribe of Judah, not Levi, and to the family of David, not Aaron. As such, he had no more access to the inner part of the Temple or knowledge of its rites or authority to preside over them than any other male lay Israelite. He was not, in other words, one of those reckoned particularly close to the sacred.
He welcomed women among his close followers, despite the fact that, according to the Torah, they were especially prone to impurity. He associated with "tax collectors and sinners" and even ate with them, no doubt at great risk to his own purity.
He taught that one can encounter GOD in the midst of the profane life of the world without benefit of clergy.
Jesus retreated for periods of rest and prayer, and Paul stressed that a religion fascinated and dominated by works will turn out to be a religion obsessed with what we do, rather than holding itself open to GOD.
Jesus' life was anything but timid...He was not afraid of taking risks.
The point is not that we should remember Jesus as someone from the distant past, but that the rite reminds us who we are in Christ here and now.
There were several sections and commentary that stood out for me.
On ministry and priesthood:
All human beings, knowingly or not, minister as priests to one another...The priesthood belongs to everyone.
The gospel was not spoken (and cannot be spoken) in a timeless or abstract way. It is always spoken to specific people, who hear it with human ears and human minds.
Heaven is an epektasis—not an arriving at God—but a continual process of stretching and being stretched out toward God.
When we encounter the HOLY, we are encountering what is essential to us, even if it seems beyond us.
The word of GOD, in Christian religion, remains subversive.
Whenever someone is living attentively in the borderlands where we meet the HOLY and is ministering and being ministered to there, that person is a priest.
On Jesus' ministry:
According to the law of Moses, Jesus was not a priest at all in the sacramental sense. He belonged to the tribe of Judah, not Levi, and to the family of David, not Aaron. As such, he had no more access to the inner part of the Temple or knowledge of its rites or authority to preside over them than any other male lay Israelite. He was not, in other words, one of those reckoned particularly close to the sacred.
He welcomed women among his close followers, despite the fact that, according to the Torah, they were especially prone to impurity. He associated with "tax collectors and sinners" and even ate with them, no doubt at great risk to his own purity.
He taught that one can encounter GOD in the midst of the profane life of the world without benefit of clergy.
Jesus retreated for periods of rest and prayer, and Paul stressed that a religion fascinated and dominated by works will turn out to be a religion obsessed with what we do, rather than holding itself open to GOD.
Jesus' life was anything but timid...He was not afraid of taking risks.
The point is not that we should remember Jesus as someone from the distant past, but that the rite reminds us who we are in Christ here and now.
July 11, 2016
This was an excellent book. I enjoyed its thoughtful reflections on the intersections between the hold and the mundane, and the connections between ministry (in and beyond a church context) and the human identity and destiny that all are invited to live. Countryman's sense of the fundamental priesthood and the sacramental priesthood is an inviting growth edge for an expansion of my theology and understanding of priesthood, informed no less by practical experience than by seminary study and formation. I can imagine returning regularly to this book and its insights, and recommending it to others who feel a vocation toward ministry in the church, whether or not that includes ordination in the formal, sacramental sense.
April 20, 2015
I had to read this for Education For Ministry.
I can't imagine anyone reading this unless they had to.
Here's his thesis, we're all priests. Actual priests aren't anything special. Except they are. But not really.
Very hard to follow, if I were a priest I'd be peeved at his cheapening of my vocation. I'm not a priest and I'm pretty miffed at his cheapening of priesthood.
I can't imagine anyone reading this unless they had to.
Here's his thesis, we're all priests. Actual priests aren't anything special. Except they are. But not really.
Very hard to follow, if I were a priest I'd be peeved at his cheapening of my vocation. I'm not a priest and I'm pretty miffed at his cheapening of priesthood.
March 22, 2010
Remarkable and beautiful. Countryman offers a vision of priesthood as teaching, and all of us as teachers. Every person on earth has had unique experiences of the Holy and therefore has something to teach the rest of us.
April 24, 2014
The author explores the concept, "priesthood of all believers" and the ramification for Christians and the church today. Aspects of this book were enlightening; however, much of what I read was simply repackaging of what I have already read before.
March 18, 2014
It is like if Mr. Rogers was dropping acid and decided to write a book! "Let's get connected.... let's sit by the campfire and sing KumBay" Sorry I am not that way.... I prefer to read a good poem by Sylvia Plath or Anne Sexton any day!
April 27, 2014
While this book was an eye opener for me regarding the priesthood in all of us, I feel like the author could have been more concise. He seemed to belabor his point which made it tedious. Overall I agree with the authors view of fundamental priesthood vs ordained priesthood.
May 18, 2014
Read this for a class and really enjoyed it. The author makes you think about your priesthood/ministry from a different vantage point and realize how it is much simpler than you envisioned before reading this book.
March 28, 2017
While I just finished reading this book... I know that it will change my life.
Simply reading it is an encounter with the HIDDEN HOLY.
I am grateful for William Countryman and this Offering to the Church.
Simply reading it is an encounter with the HIDDEN HOLY.
I am grateful for William Countryman and this Offering to the Church.
August 27, 2013
Beautiful insights about the priestly life and trying to live on the border of the holy. Important for discernment.
May 29, 2015
This is a book to read more than once. The writing is very dense, but the ideas are thought-provoking and it offers me a vision of spiritual life that I can relate to.
March 8, 2014
Concepts are good but writing is overly dense and repetitive
August 12, 2016
We are all priests living on the border between the everyday and the HOLY. Priests of the Church are first and foremost priests of humanity.
January 26, 2015
Mystical in its description of human life as lived on the "border of the Holy," but practical in explaining what we do there!
October 10, 2015
This is an amazing book that articulates what it means to live life as a Christian, but not in any sort of fundamentalist mould.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews